The advent of digital television has brought about new possibilities for programmers, and those new possibilities are ready and waiting for consumers to – well – consume. But that consumption can involve complexities, and this year, retailers are going to dwell less on technology and just try to move product based on easy-to-understand concepts.
According to a Reuters report, last year there was a huge emphasis put on selling high-end television sets, and almost no effort to sell anything else. That included marketing efforts which dwelled on top-of-the-line items, and also on pricing, where discount offers were few and far between.
This year, according to the report, retailers are not going to try selling big ticket items to the exclusion of all others – instead, they are going to simply try to get customers to walk in the door and walk back out with a new television set.
If that means discounting, then discounting it will be – it goes hand in hand with frugal consumers and a global retail television market that is in the doldrums anyway, making competition for what spending there will be particularly fierce.
As far as technology goes, the big selling point for the 2011 holiday shopping season, other than price, will be screen size. The manufacturing price of large screens is coming down, and at the same time, large screens are an easy-to-understand and highly-desired attribute among consumers. The combination a reduced price factor and high desire factor may make them a big seller during this economically-challenged holiday season.
